The note from the Headmaster directed him to go to a statue of a gargoyle on the seventh floor that 'liked' ice mice for their meeting later that evening which didn't make much sense to him but then he had already come to the conclusion that the Headmaster was senile. After reading the note he threw it in the bin for the house elves to deal with. He figured the meeting would most likely be just another attempt to get at his trunk anyway.
With shaking hands he pulled out the letter he had really been wanting to read. He laid it on the bed in front of him hearing his pulse in his neck. The parchment that had been pristine when he sent it off was now covered in grime and crinkled with fine lines. He was almost worried he wouldn't actually be able to read what was written. He smoothed the letter out in a failed attempt to flatten the creases. He hated that it was so hard to work up the courage to read it but he really didn't want to be disappointed. He spent about an hour staring at the letter hoping it would open on its own. It didn't.
With a deep breath he finally opened the letter and read it. The hand writing was atrocious but it still made him smile because it was written by HIS father to HIM. It was something that until recently he had never even known he could want let alone actually have. His smile only widened as he read the contents of the letter. It had occurred to him after he sent the letter that his questions however politely worded might still have been offencive but he shouldn't have worried. The letter was essentially a confession of unconditional acceptance with a heavy dose of longing alongside profuse apologies. Basically, had James known that he was still alive he never would have gone after Peter but would have tracked him down all the way to the elemental nations if he had needed to.
It was very shocking to know that his father knew about shinobi but then considering Lily had been born an Uzumaki it wasn't that surprising after all. It also meant that plan B was now plan A because he couldn't imagine, even if Sirius accepted him, leaving his father to rot when he definitely could do something about it. He had confirmed on the mini map he had created that the rat Ron kept in his pocket was indeed Peter Pettigrew during their first shared Potions lesson.
With his path decided it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders leaving him feeling drained and exhausted. He tucked the letter away safely in the password protected compartment of his trunk to prevent anyone from reading it if they came across it by accident. With a sigh he sat back shutting his eyes as the tension he had been carrying around all morning drained out of him.
He felt someone shaking him and instinctively grabbed at the kunai he kept under his pillow. With a great sense of disorientation he felt a second set of memories fill in alongside his memories from earlier. After a few moments he realized he killed his clone who had been trying to wake him up from his unintentional nap. He began to feel irrationally guilty when his memories revealed that the clone had let him sleep through all his classes. It had only woken him up because it was almost time for dinner.
His guilt intensified as he realized that had anyone other than his clone attempted to wake him he could have seriously injured them if not outright killed them. He decided to stop sleeping with kunai under his pillow and just leave his wand there instead. He didn't yet know any lethal spells so it was more likely that the worst injury anyone startling him would get was a poked eye which he was sure Madam Pomfrey would be able to heal if necessary.
With a sinking feeling he realized he had missed most of his chances to speak to Gaara but since there was still a half hour until dinner he might still be able to make it to the library before the group packed up to go to dinner. When he arrived at the library he saw that most of the study group had already left but Gaara at least was still waiting with Hannah and Justin.
As soon as they saw him coming Hannah and Justin stood to leave waving to him as they passed by.
"You missed study group," Gaara stated looking mildly concerned.
"I fell asleep," he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way before changing the subject, "I saw you got a letter from Sirius this morning."
With a sigh Gaara crossed his arms, "He said you should write to him yourself rather than have me do it for you, though he did say to congratulate you on embracing the Slytherin mindset."
He was a little upset that Sirius knew he had made Gaara write the letter but he was also pretty sure Gaara had written something to that effect since he had been reluctant to test the waters with Sirius. It did seem promising though that Sirius hadn't just outright disowned him. He was still going to make freeing his father the new plan A whether Sirius accepted him or not. Bonus result was that Sirius would be so pleased that he had gotten James free from Azkaban that even if he was planning to disown him he would be too distracted to follow through.
"I'll think about writing him," he told Gaara making sure he didn't promise anything as he was still unsure if he really wanted to.
Gaara nodded his approval as he began to pack his things away to head down to dinner considering his message delivered.
"Do you ever speak with Ronald Weasley?" he couldn't think of a way to be less blunt.
Gaara paused in his packing, "Sometimes."
He fidgeted a little wondering if he was relying on Gaara too much to help him solve his own problems, "never mind, it's not important."
"Obviously," Gaara said clearly not believing him.
"I need Ron's rat," he decided that if Gaara had any issues with being asked favours he would say so.
He met Gaara's eyes and as usual Gaara was able to put the pieces together from just the expression on his face.
"You've decided to go with plan B," Gaara stated.
"No, I've decided on a new plan A," he smiled.
Gaara's shoulders lost some of the tension they had gathered, "I'll see what I can do."
They headed down to dinner. When they reached the great hall he stopped Gaara just to the side of the doors by pulling on his elbow.
"Just in case, Ron is apparently very afraid of spiders," he noted.
All he got in response was a disapproving frown before Gaara went to sit at the Hufflepuff table. He made his own way to Slytherin and took his usual place next to Draco.
"Are you worried about having to meet with Dumbledore?" Draco asked as soon as he sat down.
Before answering he pointedly filled his plate with food and took a bite. He glanced at Draco to find him looking rather offended at being ignored even if it was only briefly.
"I don't see why I should be nervous. I haven't done anything," he shrugged, "I'm more curious than anything."
"I don't think he needs you to have done something," Pansy said earnestly, "If it means damaging Slytherin's success or reputation he won't let something like a legitimate reason stop him."
"Don't say anything that will make him take points," Daphne added while Theodore nodded his agreement.
"I really don't think that he is specifically out to get Slytherin," seeing their disbelieving looks he sighed, "but I will keep everything you've said in mind."
"That's all we ask," Draco added importantly.
He took the opportunity to work on eating some of his food. He would need to leave dinner early if he hoped to get to the meeting with Dumbledore on time.
"So what do you think Dumbeldore wants?" Theodore asked.
"Probably to find out where Hadrian came from," Daphne replied.
"Or maybe he wants to compare notes as defeaters of dark lords," Pansy said as the tensions eased.
The rest of the first years continued to come up with amusing and unlikely reasons for the meeting. By the time he excused himself from the table he was feeling much better about the meeting. He knew none of their reasons were likely but it still brought the situation into a better perspective. He may think of the headmaster as senile but he wasn't evil. He had faced worse foes than Dumbledore, like Orochimaru, who he had probably killed though he had seen a crater not a body so he couldn't actually be sure.
He found the gargoyle statue on the seventh floor and stood in front of it for a few minutes. He tried knocking but nothing happened. He was ashamed that it took him a few minutes to realize the reference to ice mice was a password.
"Ice mice," with relief he watched as stairs appeared.
He went up the stairs into a small alcove in front of large double wooden doors. With only slight trepidation he knocked on the wooden doors which opened immediately to let him in.
The Headmaster's office was a grand space filled with portraits of all the previous headmasters sleeping, or pretending to at the very least. Dumbledore sat behind his elaborately carved desk covered with shining silver instruments.
"Ah, Harry my boy," Dumbledore greeted as though he was surprised by his visit, "It is good to see you, have a seat."
He took the chair that Dumbledore had gestured to, "Lemon drop?"
He shook his head not interested in the bowl of candy the Headmaster had held out to him. He sat across from Dumbledore looking down at the carvings on the desk so he wouldn't have to meet his eyes. He heard the glass bowl clink against the wood as it was set back down on the desk.
"I'm sure you are aware of why I have asked to speak with you today," Dumbledore began.
He glanced up quickly and then away again, "no sir, I don't."
Dumbledore put on a benevolent smile while he saw the twinkling in his eyes get a bit brighter in his peripheral vision, "I simply wanted to ask how you were finding Hogwarts."
"It is fine, sir," he said letting some confusion colour his voice.
The meeting wasn't going quite like he had thought it would go not that he'd had a clear idea to begin with. Then it occurred to him that he might have been a bit too abrupt in his answers. He didn't want to make the Headmaster dislike him after all.
"I've been enjoying the challenge of learning magic. I never knew it existed before I got my letter. It was really surprising," he tried for a nervous looking smile.
Dumbledore's demeanour seemed to get a little softer as he smiled kindly at him, "I'm glad to hear you like it. I noticed you were making friends outside of Slytherin. It is a rare student who seeks out companions who are not in their house. It speaks highly of your character that you don't limit yourself to only one viewpoint. I know that some of the Slytherin students hold a rigid view on what makes someone worthy of magic. It is good to know that you do not hold to such views."
"Thank you, sir."
"It is no matter, but now I must get to the reason I have requested to speak with you this evening. I have understood from Severus and the house elves that your trunk has not yet been searched," Dumbledore said while slumping in his chair as though reluctant to voice his concerns.
"Well, sir, it's like I told Professor Snape, I value my privacy very highly so I made sure before I arrived to look up all the information that I could find regarding school rules. Because there is no requirement for my personal belongings to be searched I would prefer that they remain private," he said in what he thought was an earnest tone of voice.
"I understand my boy, but the trunks are searched in order to maintain the safety of the students," Dumbledore wouldn't quit.
"I read there are wards that prevent anything dangerous from entering Hogwarts' grounds, aren't there, sir?" he played innocent.
"Indeed there are Harry, but they do not cover banned items. I seem to recall that Sirius and your father were quite the avid pranksters in their day," the Headmaster got a fond faraway look as he recalled what were, if Sirius was to be believed, some of his favourite students.
"I can assure you I brought no pranks, I had more than enough experience with pranks over the summer, sir," the Headmaster chuckled like they had just shared an inside joke between them.
He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, "Can I leave now sir? My friends are waiting to study together and it's getting pretty late."
"Of course, my boy and remember that my door is always open should you ever need help," Dumbledore said frowning.
"Thank you sir, I will remember," he said standing with a smile.
He had to actively stop himself from running from the room. He thought he did a fairly good job of acting casual until he got to the bottom of the stairs. Once he was out of view of the gargoyle he hurried back to the common room as quickly as he could manage without actually running. His friends might have been on to something with regards to the Headmaster's view of Slytherin. He didn't honestly believe the Headmaster had let the matter of searching his trunk drop either, he was sure the Headmaster was just taking time to come up with a reason to force him to show the trunk despite what the school rules said about the matter.
As he entered the common room he found that the other first years were all waiting for him at their usual study table. He would have assumed they were just working on homework had they not all turned to look at him as soon as he entered the room. He could see the greedy need for gossip in Pansy's eyes. It was almost enough to make him want to leave the room again.
He went to his usual seat resigned to telling them what had happened.
He explained the conversation he had with Dumbledore to his friendly acquaintances curious how their points of view might differ from his own.
…
"See? I told you Dumbledore hates Slytherin. So glad you were willing to be friends with the Hufflepuffs instead of your evil house mates," Pansy sneered the words, clearly offended.
"You should be careful Hadrian, Dumbledore seems to be taking an unhealthy interest in you," Daphne advised.
"Believe me, I am well aware of that after today's meeting," he confided.
"You'll need to make sure you don't break any school rules that could lose us house points," Theodore advised always looking out for Slytherin first then as if it was an afterthought, "or give him due cause to search your trunk."
"My Father says Dumbledore cares more about his political career than being a competent Headmaster," Draco supplied his own opinion.
"So in conclusion, Dumbledore is suspicious and I should make efforts to stay on his good side," Hadrian summarized.
"Exactly," Pansy nodded her approval.
They got out their textbooks and began the nights study/gossip session. As the time passed he was a bit worried that Draco seemed to be quieter than usual but dismissed his initial worry when the studay session ended without further comment.
He followed the other boys into the dorm before excusing himself to the washroom. He noticed Draco following him but waited until they were alone in the washroom to acknowledge him.
"Now that I think about it I've never actually seen your trunk," Draco said.
"I've mentioned before that I value my privacy," he repeated once again.
He was beginning to feel that privacy was a foreign concept in the magical world.
"We are friends," Draco pointed out looking a little hurt.
He needed to find a way to keep Draco at a distance without offending him. He still wouldn't trust Draco or the other first year Slytherins but he did need them on his side and genuinely enjoyed their company.
He sighed and proceeded to mostly tell the truth, "At first I was just hiding the fact I had brought the broom Sirius bought me by not letting them search my trunk. But then they just made such a big deal about searching my trunk in particular that it has become about the principle of the thing. They have no right to search my trunk so I take my trunk everywhere with me to ensure they never get the opportunity."
Though it made him uncomfortable he pulled out his shrunken trunk to show Draco that it was always on him. He was hoping that since Draco had seen it he wouldn't try to push him to see inside it. In fact, Draco started smiling like he had won something, or gotten proof of something.
"You do know they already supposedly searched my trunk and found the broom I brought, so you probably wouldn't get in trouble for having it," Draco advised.
"I know, but like I said, it's the principle."
"Just remember not to take things too far, we all want to stay on Dumbledore's not bad side," Draco said before returning to the dorm to turn in for the night.